


Another World

by TippenFunkaport



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: AU, Angst, Angst and Romance, Dark Glimmer (She-Ra), Evil Glimmer, Evil!Glimmer, F/F, F/M, Glimbow, Glimbow Centric, Glitra Swap AU, Horde AU, Horde Glimmer (She-Ra), Horde!Glimmer, Mentioned Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner (She-Ra), Non-Consensual Kissing, POV Glimmer (She-Ra), Princess Prom (She-Ra), Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner (She-Ra)'s A+ Parenting, glonnie, glow - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:01:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25325062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TippenFunkaport/pseuds/TippenFunkaport
Summary: This fic was inspired by catralatina’s (https://catralatina.tumblr.com/) Glitra Swap AU so all credit goes to them for the initial idea!Glimmer has never known anything but life in the Horde, learning sorcery and dark magic as the favored ward of the manipulative Shadow Weaver. When Force Captain Adora defects and becomes a warrior for the rebellion known as She-Ra, Glimmer discovers the truth about who she was before Shadow Weaver took her from Bright Moon as a baby. But Glimmer is too invested in the Horde’s mission to crush the rebellion and take over Etheria to care about her royal past. Now that she's captured Adora's two closest allies, Catra and Bow, from Princess Prom, she’s finally poised to achieve everything she’s worked so hard for.But why does winning feel so lonely? And why can’t she stay away from the rebellion archer who makes her wonder if maybe there’s another world where it doesn’t have to be like this?Trigger Warnings: loss of agency / body control (with magic), non-consensual kissing, implication of sexual assault, abuse (frickin’ Shadow Weaver), threat of violence, my girl Glimmer just being really deeply evil and messed up
Relationships: Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Glimmer/Lonnie (She-Ra)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 55





	Another World

Force Captain Glimmer couldn't sleep. The Fright Zone clattered and droned around her like it always did but tonight she couldn't tune it out. Something about her world was out of sync.

But that was ridiculous. Everything was going exactly to plan. They’d captured Adora’s friends, taken the sword. She’d come to get them, her feelings always had been her biggest weakness, and then they’d have her. Shadow Weaver would wipe her mind, She-Ra would be their weapon and the Horde could finally crush the rebellion once and for all.

It was everything Glimmer had ever wanted since she was old enough to remember wanting anything. It was over. They’d as good as won.

But why did winning feel so lonely? She rose, making a small ball of light in her palm so she could find her clothes in the dark.

"Where are you going?"

Lonnie rose from the pillow, her bare chest visible in the pale pink light. Why was she still here? Glimmer found the cadet’s uniform on the end table where she'd thrown it last night and tossed it at her.

"Get dressed and get back to the barracks, Cadet." Glimmer finished pulling on her boots and reached for her jacket. She hesitated and then took off the comm badge. She didn't need to make it any easier for Shadow Weaver to listen in on her.

"What do you think you’re doing? Not going back to chat with that rebel again?"

“It’s none of your business.” Looks like it was time to find a new playmate. This one was getting a little too familiar. "I told you to go. I'm done with you."

Glimmer teleported out of the room before Lonnie could reply. The guard at the door of the prison saluted quickly as she appeared. Go on, ask me what I’m doing back here. I dare you. The guard said nothing as she passed into the building which was a pity. She wouldn’t mind having an excuse to blast a hole through someone’s face right now.

She stopped just inside the doorway. Out of sight of the guard, she drew a rune in the air ahead of her and cast the spell back on herself. Even Shadow Weaver's spies had their limits. At least for a little while, the old woman wouldn't know what she was up to. She took a breath, feeling a little freer already.

She should go somewhere else, just to prove Lonnie wrong, but her feet went automatically back to the rebel’s holding cell. He was sleeping inside, she could hear his even snores.

Lonnie’s question echoed in her head. What was she doing? She shouldn't be here again. It was just making her confused, distracted.

She moved closer to the force field and touched it so it went transparent. There he was, huddled in a corner of the gray cell.

The archer.

Bow, which was a ridiculously stupid name, and that somehow made this whole… thing… that much more irritating.

He was still in his suit from Princess Prom. Or what was left of it. Her memory flashed up the image of his open mouthed stare when he’d seen her there. He’d known instantly she was there to cause trouble even as he couldn’t stop his eyes from sliding all the way down her dress to the slit up her leg. So noble, always on his guard, this little rebellion soldier, but a little flirting and he was easy enough to pull along like any other toy on a string.

But she flushed when she thought of his face so close to hers, his hand warm against her bare back when she’d pulled him into a dance. It was only a distraction, a way to keep his eyes off Scorpia while she went for the sword. Just strategy, nothing else. But she couldn’t forget the look on his face when she'd dipped him and then knocked him out with a simple spell.

She shouldn't have taken him at all. She should have had him executed or sent to Beast Island. He served absolutely no purpose. They already had Adora’s girlfriend, the cat girl, that was plenty to lure her in.

It would take no effort whatsoever to finish him off right now. And then she’d be free from… whatever this was.

She lowered the force field and stepped inside. He was shackled, metal bands around his wrists and ankles, attached to the wall with bright green light. She liked having him bound, liked making sure he remembered where they stood, even though it wasn't really necessary. He didn't have any powers, wasn't as hard or sharp as the cat girl with her claws and her fierceness. No, this one was soft and breakable.

Sometimes she thought she might like to be the one to break him.

He stirred then and his eyes opened with a start. A moment of panic and then recognition.

"Glimmer.” He pulled himself into a seated position, his face set. “Why do you keep coming back here?"

Why was everyone always asking her that? She ruled this wasteland. She didn’t need anyone or anything, not least of all permission. She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorway of the cell. “I can do whatever I want.”

“Sure.” He rubbed a hand across his face and then focused his eyes on her like he was looking right through her.

He didn’t believe her. He thought she was pathetic and lonely and had no one else to talk to even though she could end him in a second, could end anyone here if she wanted to. She had more power than his entire pathetic princess alliance combined, more power than he could imagine and he had the nerve to look at her like that? She hated him more than Shadow Weaver, more than she’d ever hated anyone in her life.

“Maybe I’m here to kill you. Something I should have done a long time ago.” 

He didn't say anything and she wished she didn't feel that unfamiliar twisting in her gut when she watched him watching her. Why hadn’t she just killed him that first day they'd met on the battlefield? Or during any of the hundreds of other chances she'd had since then? It wasn’t like he was a threat. She could do it right now. A flick of her wrist and she could stop his weak and feeling little heart.

"Get up." She glared at him. He slid his one foot back slightly. Maybe he was going to get up, maybe he wasn’t. She didn't care. Her hand twisted in the air, dark magic writhing around the edge of the rune and pushed it towards him. She saw it take effect, saw him gasp as the magic slammed inside him. Her power rimmed his pupils in black smoke.

"I said, 'Get up.'" She flicked her hand upwards and he rose to his feet jerkily. She could see the fear in his eyes as he realized he didn't have control of his body anymore. She remembered what it felt like when Shadow Weaver had done it to her as a child. Before she knew better than to let anyone know what you were feeling. She walked over to him and grabbed at what was left of his shirt. He jerked back against her control, his breathing sharp. "Good. You do remember how dangerous I am."

The last time she'd grabbed him like this, she'd teleported him a few hundred feet in the air and dropped him. She caught him again before he hit the ground, he’d had information she needed, but they both knew she could have just as easily let him splat. She probably should have.

"Glimmer..." Bow’s voice was strained, fighting against her control. "It doesn't have to be like this. There is good in you. I know there is."

"You don't know anything about me!" Why did he always have to do this, talk to her like she was a person who needed to be saved? Why couldn't he just be terrified of her like everyone else? She reached into her belt for her knife, the jeweled one with the serrated blade. He flinched again as she held it up. She flipped it around and held the handle out to him.

His eyes widened as his hand raised of its own accord and grabbed the handle of the knife and raised it to his own throat. "Do you know what I've done? Do you know what I'm capable of? Do you still think you can win me over with the power of friendship and love or whatever lies they feed you in your pathetic little rebellion?"

She had him push the point of the knife against his throat, a bead of blood forming at the tip. He swallowed but he never took his eyes off hers.

"Do you think I won't do it?" He gasped as she had him flip the knife sideways. One quick slash across his throat, that's all it would take. His nostrils flared as she drew his arm back for the cut and slashed… but she loosed his fingers at the last minute so the blade fell before it connected. He exhaled, ragged, as the knife clattered to the prison floor between them.

"You see what I am now? I can make you do whatever I want." Maybe it was time to toy with him in a different way. His eyes twitched as she had his hands lower to his suit pants. She grinned as his breath hitched when she made him slowly undo his belt. She leaned over and whispered into his ear. "Whatever I want."

She would do it. She would make him fuck her. Then maybe she'd get this whole thing out of her system. She could stop thinking about this too nice archer boy and why he got under her skin and get back to crushing the rebellion. To achieving her destiny.

She grabbed him again, pressing his mouth against hers. He was sweaty and stale from days in this cell but the feeling of his mouth on hers still sent fire through her body. She twitched her fingers and forced him to kiss her back, her lips forcing his open, her magic drawing his tongue into her mouth. She pressed into him, bringing his hands up until they were around her, his hands robotic on the back of her uniform jacket.

It was pretend but she wanted it so much it scared her, like it belonged to someone else, a version of her from another life. It was a kind of magic she couldn't control and she hated it but couldn't stop. Which is why she had to ruin it, now, or lose herself entirely.

Her heart pounded against her chest as she twisted a finger in the air behind his head, drawing the counterspell. Her mouth was still moving hungrily over his when she splayed her fingers and let him have control back. She knew the moment it happened, felt him stiffen against her and start to pull back.

Good. Struggle. Try to push me off. Or attack me, the knife is still right there. That would be much more familiar territory. You can’t stop me anyway. I will still do whatever I want with you. She pushed against him, slamming him back against the wall of the cell, daring him to stop her.

But he didn't. His hands softened on her back and pulled her closer and the pressure of his mouth on hers changed, softer, more careful. Was he… kissing her for real? The realization that this was actually Bow kissing her himself, not because she was making him but because he wanted to, made her dizzy. She sank into the feeling of it, the way it made her feel warm like nothing ever had. She pressed herself against him and clung like she was the one falling through the air, not sure if she'd splat.

Oh, God. Kissing Lonnie didn't feel anything like this. She'd never had a kiss like this, one she hadn't taken through fear or power or force. It was so good it was painful in a terribly sad and euphoric kind of way. Something inside her was either breaking or coming apart and she wasn’t sure which it was but all she knew was that she didn’t want it to stop.

When he finally did pull away, she realized she was crying, hot wet tears like she hadn't cried since she was a child, before life in the Horde had beaten it out of her. He was watching her, his eyes so kind and soft even after everything she'd done that it made her angry.

"This would be so much easier if you could just hate me like you’re supposed to.” Who was she right now, her breathing ragged, her voice an fragile whisper? She had enough power to end the world but she was about to shatter. “After everything I've done to you and your friends, why do you still care?”

"I don't know." He raised a shackled hand and touched the side of her face gently and she leaned into it. Shadow Weaver did that too when she was trying to manipulate her, but it didn't feel like it did now with Bow. "I think it's because I can imagine what it would have been like if you’d grown up loved, a cherished princess of Bright Moon, brave and noble and kind. Another world where you and I could have been…" His voice hitched. “…friends.”

"I don't have that much imagination." She pulled her face out of his reach and reached for his belt. He started to pull back but stopped when he realized she was closing it back up again. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything else, she drew another quick rune in the air. He flinched backwards but all that happened was the shackles fell from his hands and legs and hit the floor with a clatter. "Go. Please, just leave."

Bow rubbed the red marks on his wrists. He looked wary at suddenly being free, like it was a trick. If it was, it was on her.

"Glimmer--"

"Go! I can't stand to have you here anymore, looking at me like I'm someone I'm not." She wanted him to run, to sprint right past her so she could tell herself it hadn't been real, that there was nothing there in return, but he stopped and grabbed her hands.

"Come with me. Please."

She pulled her hands out of his grasp. "You need to go, now, before I change my mind." About letting him go? Or going with him? Even she didn’t know. 

He turned towards the door and she called after him, "Your cat friend’s in the black garnet chamber. I can... here.” She grabbed his hand and drew a quick rune on his palm. He didn’t flinch, didn’t seem to do anything but trust her and it made her hate herself even more. “It’s a protection rune. It won’t last long but, if you hurry…” Why the hell was she doing this? It didn't make sense, Shadow Weaver and Hordak would be furious, it would set the whole mission back. But when she saw the way he was looking at her she knew why she was doing it.

"Thank you." He said and the look in his eyes physically hurt. She turned away, her hands balled into fists.

"Just, understand, I'm not doing this because I like you."

He actually laughed. "OK."

And then he was gone and it was like he’d taken a piece of her with him.

What had she just done? What was happening to her?

When she was sure she was alone, Glimmer fell to her knees and pushed her hands onto the cold metal floor. She screamed and let everything pour out of her through her power, pink sparkles burning across the ground in twisted lines, bright lines of anger and grief and pain snaking across the darkness. In a minute, she would put the mask back on, deal with Shadow Weaver and Hordak, figure out how to move forward from this one pathetic moment of weakness.

But, for now, all she could do was cry for another world that didn’t exist.

**Author's Note:**

> I ended this on kind of a downer, but you can just go ahead and assume that, after several tortured seasons of angst and pining, somehow Glimmer would redeem herself and come back to her family and make friends and she and Bow would make out and save the universe or something very dramatically in the last episode and everyone would live happily ever after.
> 
> PS: if you want more info about the catralatina's Glitra Swap AU, which is spread out over many posts, I tried to summarize it here https://tippenfunkaport.tumblr.com/post/623859404746424320/i-just-wrote-a-post-princess-prom-glimmerbow-fic
> 
> Comments are always hugely appreciated no matter how long after posting it is!
> 
> Visit my Tumblr for asks, fic updates and misc thoughts. [https://tippenfunkaport.tumblr.com](https://tippenfunkaport.tumblr.com/)


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